


pour the champagne

by threefundamentaltruths



Series: bridgerton missing scenes [7]
Category: Bridgerton (TV), Bridgerton Series - Julia Quinn
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, F/M, Family Feels, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threefundamentaltruths/pseuds/threefundamentaltruths
Summary: "In another world, one where his father was still alive and he was still mere Mr. Bridgerton, heir apparent to the viscountcy, it would have been his father making the toast, his parents seeing off the guests, and his parents celebrating seeing the last of their unmarried children off to wedded bliss."Anthony, Violet, and Kate after Gregory and Lucy’s wedding.
Relationships: Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sheffield, Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Edmund Bridgerton/Violet Bridgerton, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: bridgerton missing scenes [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112294
Comments: 24
Kudos: 218





	pour the champagne

**Author's Note:**

> Missing scene between the last chapter and the epilogue of _On the Way to the Wedding_.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at [your3fundamentaltruths](https://your3fundamentaltruths.tumblr.com)

_1827 – London_

Other people’s weddings always put his wife in a mood for romance.

Given the role she played in bringing the young couple together, Kate finds something particularly sweet in his youngest brother’s wedding, laughs and beams and even sheds a tear – though she’d deny it to her dying day if someone had the nerve to call her on it.

With the children sent off with Daphne and Simon’s brood for the afternoon, he’s looking forward to a very pleasant interlude now that they’ve seen the last of the guests off. As soon as the door is shut behind Portia Featherington (why she was invited he’ll never known – even her own daughter doesn’t like her _that_ much!), he looks hither and yon to see whether he can get away with picking Kate up and carrying her bodily up the stairs without scandalizing anyone – their butler, primarily. Humboldt has always been the most proper sort.

The coast is clear and he pulls Kate close and kisses her, unable to wait until he’s got her in their bedchamber. He’s entirely engrossed until he hears a familiar giggle. _No._

Kate jumps back from him, startled.

So close. He’d been _so close_.

His mother is standing at the top of the landing, bottle of champagne in one hand and half-full flute in the other.

“ _Mother?_ ”

“Yes, dearest?”

“Mother,” he says again. “What are you doing?” _What in God’s name are you_ still _doing here?_

  
Also, about a third of the way to drunk. She’s not usually too much of a drinker, but every now and again, she’ll let loose on the champagne and today is certainly an appropriate occasion for it.

“Let’s have a drink, darling. The three of us.”

“We already had a toast,” he protests.

“Yes, but that was for everyone. This is for us.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I thought this day would never come, Anthony, and I know you had your doubts as well –”

It’s true, but he wanted to mark the occasion with his _wife_ –

“But it has. It finally has.” His mother sighs with relief.

Kate bursts into laughter beside him in that way that means she simply can’t help herself.

“See, Kate understands what a feat it was. All eight of you, happily married, at last. Let’s have that drink.” 

“Mother, I’m not sure –”

“Don’t be a spoilsport, Anthony,” Kate admonishes and, although she is still grinning, there is something serious in her eyes now, warm and a bit wistful, and he understands.

Of course.

Frankly, he feels ashamed of himself, of the fact that his wife’s being more sensitive to his mother’s feelings than he is.

In another world, one where his father was still alive and he was still mere Mr. Bridgerton, heir apparent to the viscountcy, it would have been his father making the toast, his parents seeing off the guests, and his parents celebrating seeing the last of their unmarried children off to wedded bliss.

But Father isn’t here to mark this milestone with Mother. She is alone. In the midst of a large and loving family, she is, in so many ways, always alone. It is hard to imagine a lonelier spot.

He knows that she always misses Father, but he also knows that family weddings have been particularly bittersweet for her . . .

\---

When Daphne marries, he knows it hits Mother quite hard to see him, rather than their father, walk her down the aisle.

When he marries, he also acquires a new viscountess, displacing his mother, for all that Kate treats her with the greatest respect and affection.

Benedict’s and Francesca’s marriages take them farther afield – Benedict to a quiet life in the country with far too few visits to town, Francesca all the way to Scotland. Although Mother will deny to her dying day that she has a favorite child, she does and it is Benedict. And she has always fretted over Francesca, widowed even younger than she was, but without any children to help ease the pain of it. She had been delighted when Francesca remarried.

Colin’s wedding is the first time Mother actually speaks of _why_ she misses Father that particular day. All the other times, he’s had to figure it out for himself. “He is so much like your father,” she says at one point. “And Penelope has always reminded me of myself.”

Neither notion had ever crossed his mind before. Colin’s led such a different life than their father did and their mother and Penelope could not be more different.

“I was a wallflower, too, you know,” Mother explains, sensing his confusion. “But then a chestnut-haired charmer came along and turned my life upside down and I was never the same.” Her smile wobbles a bit at that. “I’m so happy for them, dearest. I only wish your father were here to share in this. I always do.”

He squeezes her hand in silent commiseration.

\---

Mother has always been delighted to see her children find true love. In fact, for the past fourteen years, she’s made it her mission to ensure that they all did so. But now, with Gregory settled, she’ll be at loose ends. For all that she’s already lived alone since Hyacinth married, how quiet Number Five will seem when she walks through the door today.

The very least they can do is put off that new reality a little while longer. “Yes, let’s have that drink, Mother,” he agrees with a gentle smile.


End file.
